The invention relates generally to devices for bathroom odor removal and air freshening and more specifically to a self-contained apparatus for odor removal for installation upon a conventional toilet including an adjustable housing having a fan and activated charcoal filter.
The challenge of removing noisome air from a bathroom is as old as indoor plumbing. Over the years inventors have tackled this problem and developed numerous and diverse apparatus for solving it. They may be categorized in many ways.
There are devices which exhaust foul air or recirculate it. A common approach is to simply draw stale or odor laden air outdoors by a fan or blower. Those that recirculate air either mask odor by scenting or perfuming it or remove odors with odor removing filtration media.
There are devices which are built into the toilet, those which utilize the plumbing as an exhaust duct, those which may be built into the toilet seat or lid and those which are attached to the toilet.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,689,944, 4,344,194 and 4,853,981 disclose toilet deodorizing devices installed in the toilet lid. All of these units recirculate the air and utilize an activated charcoal filter to remove odor from it.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,781,923 and 4,031,574 disclose devices which are both installed and cooperate with components of the toilet water tank to perform an air freshening function. In the latter patent, a mechanical timer is utilized to shut the blower off after a predetermined time interval.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,913,150 and 4,726,078 utilize vents in the toilet seat to remove air from the toilet bowl. In the latter patent, both air filtration and recirculation of the air as well as exhausting the air to the outside is taught.
As noted above, certain devices also withdraw air from the toilet bowl and exhaust it to the outside. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,361 wherein withdrawn air is forced into the sewer line below the toilet. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,293, the withdrawn air is exhausted by a blower into a separate exhaust duct. A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,117. Here, foul air is drawn off and exhausted either through a conduit or the sewer line.
Add-on, portable devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,869,737, 4,025,325, 4,059,857, 4,317,242 and 4,472,841. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,737, a floor mounted device is disclosed which includes an inlet disposed at the toilet bowl rim and a deodorizing filter for removing odors from the recirculated air. U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,325 teaches a similar battery powered device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,857 includes a water overflow protection feature which prevents water from contacting the filter and the electric blower. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,472,841 and 4,317,242 present add-on devices which hang on the side of the toilet bowl, are battery powered and include an odor removing filter pack.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,970 teaches a symmetrical unit which is disposed upon the rear portion of the toilet bowl adjacent the tank and includes a hollow toilet seat having a plurality of inlet apertures proximate the toilet bowl and a switch which operates a blower in response to weight upon the toilet seat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,559 teaches a similar device which is placed at the rear of a toilet bowl, includes a centrally disposed air inlet, a pair of deodorizing filters and an electric motor which drives a pair of fans. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,473, a multi-purpose device is disclosed No. which is received on the rear of the toilet bowl and includes air filtration and recirculation means.
A review of the above discussed odor removal technology reveals certain shortcomings in nearly every design. First of all, many require cooperation with or modification of such components as the toilet seat, the toilet tank or the associated sewer line. Regardless of the device, significant and costly modification to existing equipment is necessary. Secondly, those devices which merely exhaust foul bathroom air are energy inefficient in that they generally exhaust heated or cooled air which must be replaced by unconditioned air. Such unconditioned air must be heated or cooled to the condition of the exhausted air. This process thus represents a significant waste of energy. Also, many of the devices which exhaust air necessitate the construction of an exhaust duct specifically for this purpose. This adds to the overall installation cost and complexity of such a device.
Many of the foregoing devices are powered by the alternating current supply of the house or building. In a bathroom where water and grounded metal fixtures abound, this can present a dangerous situation, particularly if the toilet is plugged, flushed and then overflows.
Finally, few of the devices discussed appear to include adjustable features which permit their installation and use upon varying toilet configurations
It is therefore apparent that improvements in the technology of toilet odor removal are both possible and desirable.